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A review by stephbookshine
40 Nickels by R. Daniel Lester
4.0
*I received a free ARC of this book, with thanks to the author. The decision to review and my opinions are my own.*
This is the second Carnegie Fitch book and you don’t have to have read the first book (Dead Clown Blues) to pick up the plot, but I suggest that you do because there are some references to characters and events that just won’t mean as much if you don’t know that backstory.
Fitch is back and has sunk so low that he is pinching pennies… almost literally! Things aren’t looking good for the hard-boiled, smart-arsed detective, except maybe for his association with at least one ‘dame’ with a taste for broke, unwashed detective wannabes.
The plot of his latest case is humorously far-fetched, with a rogue dentist, a strangely smiley cult, and mind-bending amounts of hallucinatory drugs. I wondered at one point whether it was Fitch who had been drugged, or me! Oh, and there’s the titular roll of coins which seems greatly in demand despite its low face value.
Lester does a great job of conjuring up Fitch’s seedy 1950s noir life, while adding in a riotously chaotic element like criminal clowns or demented dentists. Fans of Malcolm Pryce’s Louie Knight and Robert Rankin’s Lazlo Woodbine will enjoy this darkly humorous crime series.
When the door to the tavern shut behind me, I didn’t exactly run but I didn’t dilly-dally either. I fast walked down Bathurst to the end of the block, crossed the street, hopped a fence and cut across a deserted lot where only the crabgrass and broken bottles lay, seeking the safety of a network of alleys and back routes leading to the collection of tar paper shacks and hobo tents I called home sweet home. I climbed out the other side of the lot, stopped and put my back against the nearest wall, peering around the corner of the brick building. Nothing to see. So I seemed to be in the clear: no sign of an irate Wendell looking for the asshole that ripped him off for two bucks worth of nickels. Fat city.
– R Daniel Lester, 40 Nickels
Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog
https://bookshineandreadbows.wordpress.com/2020/06/11/40-nickels-r-daniel-lester/
This is the second Carnegie Fitch book and you don’t have to have read the first book (Dead Clown Blues) to pick up the plot, but I suggest that you do because there are some references to characters and events that just won’t mean as much if you don’t know that backstory.
Fitch is back and has sunk so low that he is pinching pennies… almost literally! Things aren’t looking good for the hard-boiled, smart-arsed detective, except maybe for his association with at least one ‘dame’ with a taste for broke, unwashed detective wannabes.
The plot of his latest case is humorously far-fetched, with a rogue dentist, a strangely smiley cult, and mind-bending amounts of hallucinatory drugs. I wondered at one point whether it was Fitch who had been drugged, or me! Oh, and there’s the titular roll of coins which seems greatly in demand despite its low face value.
Lester does a great job of conjuring up Fitch’s seedy 1950s noir life, while adding in a riotously chaotic element like criminal clowns or demented dentists. Fans of Malcolm Pryce’s Louie Knight and Robert Rankin’s Lazlo Woodbine will enjoy this darkly humorous crime series.
When the door to the tavern shut behind me, I didn’t exactly run but I didn’t dilly-dally either. I fast walked down Bathurst to the end of the block, crossed the street, hopped a fence and cut across a deserted lot where only the crabgrass and broken bottles lay, seeking the safety of a network of alleys and back routes leading to the collection of tar paper shacks and hobo tents I called home sweet home. I climbed out the other side of the lot, stopped and put my back against the nearest wall, peering around the corner of the brick building. Nothing to see. So I seemed to be in the clear: no sign of an irate Wendell looking for the asshole that ripped him off for two bucks worth of nickels. Fat city.
– R Daniel Lester, 40 Nickels
Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog
https://bookshineandreadbows.wordpress.com/2020/06/11/40-nickels-r-daniel-lester/